THE NEW YORKER "that he would have such an unlikely story, with so many authentIc overtones, unless It were true. He didn't look at all like a Harlem Negro, his head was uncanny, and he seemed to know about North Carolina and the relief agen- cies-" "Nonsense, James. There are a hundred-a thousand-ways of obtaIn- ing such information. For instance: He quoted thirty-five cents an hour as hIs old wage. Well, you could research that. Is thirty-five cents an hour stand- ard pay in the cotton helt? To be frank, it sounds low to me." "That was the thing," Liz said, "that made me begin to wonder." J ames turned on her, surprised and stung. "Damn it, the trouble with peo- ple like you who are passed from one happy breadwinner to the next without missing a damn meal is that you refuse to admit that outside your own bubble anybody can be suffering. Of course people starve. Of course children die. Of course a man wIll pay a quarter an hour if nobody makes him pay more. 1 " esus. "However," Rudy went on, "mere dollar-and-cents quotations mean very little; the relative value, purchasewise, of, for instance, ten cents, 'a thin dime'-" James's harangue had agitated Au- gustIna; her nostrils darted this way and that, and when she heard her husband's voice drone, she turned those marvel- lous, staring apertures directly on him. Not insensitive, he slowly clImbed out of his brain, sensed the heat in the room, and, the worst thing possible, fell silent. The silence went on. Liz was blush- ing. James held his tongue, by way of apology to her. Rudy's brittle gears shifted, his mouth :flipped open, and he considerately said, "No, joke about it as we will, a problem in sheer currency can very seriously affect real people. To take an example, in the states of the Confederacy in the decade after the surrender of Appomattox-that is, from the year l865 to the vear 1871 . . ." O N Monday, James's office was wait- ing for him. The wastebasket had been emptied; a blue envelope la} on the steel desk. Otherwise, not so much as a pen nib had been disturbed; the drawing he had been working on when Liz called still lay by the telephone, its random placement preserved like the handiwork of a superbly precious being. He did his work all day with great precision, answering letters, making order. One job he gave his mind was 63 Flights of BOAC's Britannla...largest, fastest airliner in the world today. . . start from San FrancIsco, ChIcago DetroIt, New York 4' "< ,. ,. --:: , :,. ... . <^ ... < '\ 1 -:.....v i .. .. . e wit a uiet .ritis f <:. ". .:,.. \ .. ......ï. -. .. '^ ..- :;! ;. . ,,,.<. "-:?-:.-.. .. , N M",^ .. '. _' -:: . . .:. 0r,>>< ", . "^"""^">". .. . 2.... .:..:--y;.,........w. (....-::.. .... ... .... .. .:. ; ^ -:x ... ......."'-.. ::. 000..... ..". - :::;..: ."^'.... ." .:. : . -: :t- ", .., .. , __ <-:'<-" } . >>Þ ........'" ........ . ".":." ..:.0. ...... . .. . .. ......... '.... .. "0." ".:." ::- ..:-........::: -"-" :-.... .0-.' .' 4' y /.: .- A;:,. :: Even the most experienced travelers have never experienced flying like this! N early nOIseless and free of tiring vibration, hours faster! (Over 6 miles a minute, New York non-stop to London.) The personal attentIon you receive aboard BOAC's Britannia is as British as her name. Her chief steward and his I Wodd leader in Air Travel I staff carry on a British tradition in their manner of serving you. Book on BOAC Britannia at your Travel Agent or call upon any BOAC office What-ever class of ticket you buy, it costs you no more to fly in the world's largest, fastest airliner.. . jet- prop Britannia! ., ", "0" .., I takes good cafe of you l ..j.. . FIRST jet service across the Atlantic BOAC Direct Service Cities: New Y orle, Boston, Chicago, Detroit Miami, San Francisco Montreal. Other offices: Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington, Dallas, Toronto, Vancouver, Winnipeg..